Tailored radiotherapy spares breast cancer patients unnecessary treatment

Credit: Getty Images/Mark Kostich

By Olivia Bowthorpe

Women with early breast cancer can safely receive less radiotherapy when treatment is tailored to individual risk, a decade-long study has found, potentially sparing thousands from unnecessary side-effects.

The Dutch research shows that reducing treatment for lower-risk patients does not increase the chance of cancer returning, with recurrence rates at 2.4% after ten years.